is the highest-ranking official artistic organization in Japan. It is established as an extraordinary organ of the Japanese

Agency for Cultural Affairs The is a special body of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). It was set up in 1968 to promote Japanese arts and culture. The agency's budget for FY 2018 rose to ¥107.7 billion. Overview The ag ...

(文化庁, Bunkacho) in the thirty-first article of the law establishing the

Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The , also known as MEXT or Monka-shō, is one of the eleven Ministries of Japan that composes part of the executive branch of the Government of Japan. Its goal is to improve the development of Japan in relation with the international community ...

. The Academy discusses art-related issues, advises the

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology The is a member of the Cabinet of Japan and is the leader and chief executive of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The minister is nominated by the Prime Minister of Japan and is appointed by the Emperor of Japa ...

on art-related issues, and promotes arts in three categories: 1) fine art, 2) literary arts, 3) music, drama, and dance. It is closely associated with the annual Japan Art Academy Exhibition ''(Nitten''), the premier art exhibition in Japan; the Japan Art Academy originally ran the Nitten but since 1958 the exhibition is run by a separate private institution. The Japan Art Academy headquarters is in Ueno Park, Tokyo. The Japan Art Academy should not be confused with the

Japan Art Institute is a non-governmental artistic organization in Japan dedicated to ''Nihonga'' (Japanese style painting). The academy promotes the art of Nihonga through a biennial exhibition, the ''Inten'' Exhibition . History The Nihon Bijutsuin was founded b ...

, which is a completely different organization.

History

The Japan Art Academy was founded in 1907 as the Fine Arts Reviewing Committee (''Bijutsu Shinsa Iinkai'') of the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. It was intended to provide quality standards and a venue for art exhibitions in late

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Japan. The first of the organization's annual exhibitions, called the ''Bunten'', was held in 1907. In 1919 the Imperial Fine Arts Academy (''Teikoku Bijutsu-in'') was established by imperial decree, first headed by

Mori Ōgai Lieutenant-General , known by his pen name , was a Japanese Army Surgeon general officer, translator, novelist, poet and father of famed author Mari Mori. He obtained his medical license at a very young age and introduced translated German lan ...

. Upon establishment of the Imperial Arts Academy, the Fine Arts Reviewing Committee was discontinued and assimilated into the new organization, with the ''Bunten'' exhibition accordingly renamed the ''Teiten''. After a number of structural changes were made to the organization in response to criticism of its relevance and politics, it was eventually reorganized into the Imperial Art Academy (帝国芸術院, ''Teikoku Geijutsuin'') in 1937, and the annual exhibition was renamed the ''Shinbunten''. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the dissolution of the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

, and the start of the American

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

, the Imperial Art Academy was restructured as the Japan Art Academy (日本芸術院, ''Nihon Geijutsuin''). Its annual exhibition was renamed the starting from the 1946 editions (spring and fall, to make up for the lack of an exhibition in 1945), abbreviated as ''Nitten'' (日展). In 1958, there was further re-organization whereby the Japan Fine Arts Academy became a solely academic and consultative body, and the organization of the Nitten annual exhibition was handled by a separate private company, the non-profit corporation Nitten (社団法人日展, Shadan Hōjin Nitten).

Membership

The Japan Art Academy is under the

. It consists of a maximum of 120 members, who are appointed for life. Membership is divided into the following categories A. Fine Arts #

Nihonga ''Nihonga'' (, "Japanese-style paintings") are Japanese paintings from about 1900 onwards that have been made in accordance with traditional Japanese artistic conventions, techniques and materials. While based on traditions over a thousand years ...

# Yōga # Sculpture # Crafts # Calligraphy # Architecture B. Literary Arts # Novels, prose literature # Poetry # Essays, translation C. Music, Drama, and Dance # Nōgaku #

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

Bunraku (also known as ) is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or ( puppeteers ...

# Traditional music # Western music # Dance # Drama(includes cinema)

List of leaders

(1919–1922) *

Kuroda Seiki Viscount was a Japanese painter and teacher, noted for bringing Western art theory and practice to a wide Japanese audience. He was among the leaders of the ''yōga'' (or Western-style) movement in late 19th and early 20th-century Japanese pai ...

(1922–1924) * (1924–1931) * (1931–1935) * (1937–1947) * (1948–1979) * (1979–1990) * (1990–2004) *

Shumon Miura was a Japanese novelist. He attended the University of Tokyo, and upon graduation joined the staff of the literary magazine ''Shin-Shicho'' (新思潮: "New Thought") in 1950. The next year, Miura published his first book. He then married fell ...

(2004–2014) * Kuroi Senji (2014–2020) * (2020–present)

Nitten

The claims to be the largest combined art exhibition of its kind in the world, attracting a great number of fans and

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

s. The exhibition consists five art categories: ''Nihonga'' and Western Style Painting, Sculpture, Crafts and Calligraphy. During each exhibition, works of the great masters are shown alongside works of the new but talented artists. For ninety-nine years the exhibition (under its various names) was held at the

Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum The is an art museum in Tokyo, Japan. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefectural government. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"Museums"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', pp. 671-673. The current structure, designed by Kunio M ...

(東京都美術館'','' Tōkyō-to Bijutsukan) in

Ueno is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...

, but from the hundredth year in 2007 the exhibition venue was changed to the National Art Center Tokyo (国立新美術館, Kokuritsu Shin-bijutsukan) in

Roppongi is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popular with locals and foreigners alike. It is ...

. The Japan Fine Arts Exhibition decided not to award any of the top prizes in any of the 5 sections for 2013, following the revelation of fraudulent judging in the calligraphy section of the fiscal 2009 show. It was the first time since 1958, when the organization became a nonprofit corporation, that none of the prizes were awarded.

References

External links

Home page

Home page of the Nitten
{{Authority control . Organizations based in Tokyo Ueno Park Arts in Japan

Art Academy An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...

Arts organizations established in 1907 1907 establishments in Japan